Next Generation 911, which moves Allen County’s 911 system from the old telephone lines to an Internet-based communications system, will provide a more efficient system for residents to make emergency calls.
Crews from the Kansas 911 Administrative Council were at the Allen County dispatch center Thursday to push NG911 online.
Allen County is the 33rd dispatch center in the state — known as Public Safety Answer Point or PSAPs — to convert to NG911, noted Scott Ekberg, administrator for the Kansas 911 Administrative Council. Still waiting for the upgrade are 77 centers.
Next Gen 911 will mark a number of improvements over the old system, Ekberg explained.
“The base description is we’re moving from the all-analog network that we started using in 1968 when 911 was ‘invented,’ so to speak. Migrating to all IP (Internet protocol)-based network allows us to carry data on the network and not just voice.”
Eventually, perhaps as early as this fall, 911 callers will be allowed to send messages via text, or even picture or video messages, Angela Murphy, Allen County 911 director, said.
But aside from those added features, the biggest difference will be the ability of dispatchers to map and locate more precisely the location of calls.
Ekberg explained.
Under the old system — dubbed “Legacy 911” — cell phone users in rural areas would see their 911 calls go to the wrong county if an out-of-county cell phone tower was used in the call.
“That happens here a lot,” Murphy interjected.
Under the analog system, dispatchers had an obsolete mapping system incapable of providing more precise locations for out-of-county callers.
“The dispatcher would likely just be looking at a white space (on his computer map),” Ekberg continued.
Because the new IP system has a streamlined, statewide map, dispatchers have access to other county road systems, addresses and other landmarks, such as rivers or streams.
Eventually, “we’ll be able to route the call based on the location it’s coming from, and not the cell tower it hits,” Ekberg said.
Allen County’s NG911 system is being developed in phases.
“Think of it as an Interstate highway” capable of transmitting volumes of information at high speeds, Ekberg said. “What we’ll be doing is adding on-ramps with these other services. Right now, we’re just at the base level, establishing our IP network and building the infrastructure.”
THE NEW system will be easier to use for dispatchers in some areas, Murphy noted, but has other wrinkles that will need to be addressed.
